Going Back
by alannapurple
Summary: Kara had gone through her whole life not knowing anything about her mother, only that she left Japan right before Kara was born. But now a mysterious visitor has come to change all that, and he wants the truth... r/r
1. Chapter 1 - In Which We Mean our Heroine...

You see a dimly lit stage with a microphone standing on it. There is a person behind the mike, but you can't see her because it's too dark. "Good evening," she says. She sounds like Alfred Hitchcock in the old show "Alfred Hitchcock presents..." "And welcome to alanna-" She is violently shoved to the side by another person you can't see.

A third person comes into view. "Thanks Kermit!" she says, handing the second a twenty-dollar bill. She snaps her fingers and the lights come on. The girl is average height with brown hair that's pulled back into a high, bouncy ponytail and a REALLY big obnoxious smile. "Okay, hello everyone!! My name's Giggle! I'm one of alannapurple's multiple personalities. I'm gonna be introducing her fic," her face falls, and she thinks a minute. "Oh, wait. What's the name of that fic, again?"

"Going Back," a voice off stage calls.

"Yes, that's it!" Giggle says brightly. Then she looks off stage to where the voice came from. "Uh-oh..."

"Kermit, get her!" the fourth voice commands.

Giggle runs off stage, with Kermit (the second girl) stalking close behind. The owner of the fourth voice comes on stage. "Hi folks. This is alannapurple. Sorry about all that, I was having an identity crisis." A light above the stage blinks "Applause". There is silence. "Alright, don't laugh," alannapurple mutters. "Anyways, this is my new fanfic, called "Going Back." Ya, I know the name sux, if anyone has any better ideas, right them in a review. And i know this is a long ass intro." She gets tapped on the shoulder by Kermit, who points slightly off stage. Giggle is sitting tied up and gagged. "Good work. Hold her there for a while," alannapurple tells Kermit. Kermit doesn't move. "What now?" alannapurple asks. Kermit holds out her palm. "Sorry kiddo, I'm broke." Kermit glares. "I can CONTROL you if I wanted to, I don't have to pay you." Kermit glares, but alannapurple glares back. Finally, Kermit backs down and leaves. "Sorry folks, I'm afraid she's always like that. Okay, now on with the story!" She starts to leave, then comes back. "Oh ya, this starts out in L.A. Ya I know the show takes place in Japan, just bear with me for a little, it'll explain its self." She starts to leave again, but then comes back a second time. "And I don't own DBZ either. FUNimation, and some Japanese person does. I do, however, own Kermit, Giggle and Gaper (the first one). I DON'T  own Alfred Hitchcock, or "Alfred Hitchcock Presents..." although I did have to watch several episodes of it in my T.V. production class. Okay, here's the story..." The curtain drops.

The black haired girl walked into the apartment, and dropped her shoulder bag on the hall counter. "Mom, I'm home!" she called, wandering through the building. She found her mom in the kitchen, painting.

The picture was only partially done, but you could start to see what it was going to be. It was also fairly large. It was of a girl looking over the ocean, but you could only see the side of the girl's face, and none of her body. And the look you got was that she was somehow flying. The girl looked at it in awe. "It's beautiful," she breathed. "But aren't you working on the illustrations for that other book?"

"I finished those last night. I couldn't sleep. I got the idea for this right after you left. How was school?"

The girl sighed. "Alright, I guess. Thank goodness it's Friday, right?"

Her mother shrugged. "I guess. Did you have fun swimming with Mal and Claire?"

"Tons. I'm gonna miss Mal when she goes off to college in September."

"It's only May, Kara. You still have four months," her mother responded.

"I know. And I'm going to make the best of them! Mal IS my best friend."

"And Claire is...?" Her mother asked.

"Blonde and boring."

"Kara!" 

"What, she is!" Kara retorted. Her mother glared. "Alright, alright. She's not as dumb as she looks."

Her mother sighed. "Kids these days..." she muttered.

"Oh, the weirdest thing happened when we went to Burger King today after swimming."

"I thought you hated Burger King," her mother replied.

"I do, but Claire likes there shakes, and she says it's good place to meet guys, so we went. Actually, she and I went, Mal said the idea was stupid, and waited for us outside. Anyways, I was inline with her, and she was flirting with the guy in front of us so she didn't notice that this guy standing next to us, like leaning against the wall waiting for someone. I don't know who. And this guy, he was staring at me. Actually I think he was staring at my earrings." Kara pointed at her ears, where there dangled a pair of white stone roses, slightly drooping.

"You wore those earrings swimming?!" her mother exclaimed.

"No! I had taken them out and put them in my pocket. I was putting them on while we were in line. So this guy, he was looking at those, and kind of at my face and all. He was cute too, and only about 25 or something. So I caught his eye, and gave him my little 'flirty' smile." She demonstrated. Her mother rolled her eyes. "And that's when the weird part happened. He kinda smiled back a little shyly, and then he _blushed_. It was _so_ weird. He was really cute, too. He had the most beautiful eyes, they were like, blue at one point, and then they kinda changed to black a little. It was dreamy." Kara sighed. "His hair was a bit _unusual, _but I won't hold it against him."

Her mother was silent, thinking. "What," her voice cracked a little, "what do you mean by 'unusual'?" she asked.

"It was purple."

There was another bit of silence, this time a bit more shocked than thoughtful. "Are you sure?" her mother whispered.

"Yep, positive. What's wrong Mom, he a friend of yours?" Kara laughed inwardly. She knew this guy wasn't a friend of her mom's, unless he was an old friend from Japan. She knew all of her mom's friends in L.A. This guy was definitely not from L.A. 

Her mom didn't respond. Instead, she looked at the painting as if it could give her the answers to all of her unasked questions. "Describe this guy again, Kara, please?" Her mom asked.

"Kind of tall; bluish blackish eyes; straight, purple hair; and around 24 or so. Why?"

Her mother didn't respond, she just stared at the painting.

"Mom?" Kara asked. There was silence. She frowned. Suddenly, the phone rang. She reached around and grabbed it. "Hello?"

"Hello, is Pan Son there?" The caller was a man, and not too old sounding, although his voice was urgent. Kara didn't recognize the caller's voice, either.

"Yes, she is. May I ask who's calling?"

Kara heard a faint laugh. "Yes, you may." Kara was silent for a moment. The guy was laughing at her!

"Who is calling?" she asked, a little peevishly.  She blinked when he answered. Kara put her hand on the receiver. "Phone for you, Mom," she told her mother.

Her mother snapped out of her daze. "Who is it?" she asked.

"Some guy named Trunks Briefs..."

dun dun dun...... yes, it's a cliffhanger!! I meant to have this chap be longer, but w/ the inro and all I thought it was long enough. And this seemed like a good enough place to end this page. Be good and review!! Or I'll send Kermit after you! Mwahahahahaha!! She's as fast as lighting, with the powers of a Super Saiyan!!! ::laughs wickedly:: Ok, go review, its the little button below the story, and you don't have to come up with a name yet, cause its just the beginning!! Okay, laters.

Alannapurple

RaWcK oN


	2. Chapter 2 - In Which We Learn Something ...

You see an empty stage, with a microphone and a very tired looking brunette with messy hair. (okay, so it's not exactly empty, right?) She has a piece of lined paper in her hand. "Alannapurple would..." she yawns, "would like to....." she yawns again, harder this time, "to thank..." she passes out with a thud.  The stage is silent for a only a few seconds, before a little five year old skips out on stage. She picks the paper up and reads it to herself. She looks up at the microphone, but it's too tall. The little girl snaps her fingers, and a stool appears in front of the mike. She gets on it and looks at the audience. "Dear Santa," she reads, "I've been a vewy good girl this year and for Chwistmas I wanna pony and a Malibu Barbie!"

"Google!!" alannapurple shouts from offstage. "Get off the mike, now!" She storms out.

Google  shakes her head. "Yes," alannapurple says. "NO!" Google replies. Alannapurple thinks a minute and then pulls out a big Hershey's chocolate bar and hands in to Google. The girl grabs it greedily, and runs off. "Wait!" alannapurple cries, and runs after her. The stage is empty for only a minute, then alannapurple walks back holding the paper out in front of her. She looks at it and blanches. "Eeww, chocolate fingerprints. Anyway, I, alannapurple, would like to thank everyone who read the first chapter of my story. And a big thanks goes out to those five who reviewed. Yay!!" The sign above the stage blinks on "Applause!" and there is some half-hearted cheering in the audience. "Oh come on, is that the best you guys can do?" The cheering stops. "Guess so. Okay, I would also especially like to thank, drum roll please..." There is an anticipated silence. "I said, drum roll please..." Still there is silence. Alannapurple looks at the back of the stage, which is, as always, empty.

She sighs, and snaps her fingers. A bewildered callmesquirrel appears, sitting at a drum set with drumsticks in her hands. "Like I said before," alannapurple continues, " I would also like to especially thank, drum roll, please..." This time, callmesquirrel obliges. "Much better. PapillonStar, thank you for being the first one to review my fic. As you can see, I am continuing. 'squirrel, you can stop now," alannapurple says, turning to callmesquirrel, who is still doing the drum roll. "I said, 'squirrel, you can stop now," she repeats, a little louder. "'squirrel, stop it!" Her teeth are clenched. "'squirrel, enough! SHUT UP!!!" she screams. Callmesquirrel stops, cowering. She mutters and apology.

"Now, the disclaimer. I DON'T own DBZ. I would like to, but it would be wa-a-a-a-ay too much trouble, and since I don't have that chance, my opinion doesn't really matter. I also don't own Malibu Barbie. Mattel does. I don't own callmesquirrel, either. She owns herself. And who owns that drum set?" The last statement is directed towards the back at 'squirrel. "The RHS band program," is the reply. "Figures," alannapurple mutters. "As you can see, I also don't own that. I do own Giggle, Gaper, Google, Iffie (the first one), and Kermit. And 'squirrel, Kermit doesn't sumo wrestle, okay? On with the show." The curtain drops.

Preciously on 'Going Back' 

**  Suddenly, the phone rang. She reached around and grabbed it. "Hello?"

"Hello, is Pan Son there?" The caller was a man, and not too old sounding, although his voice was urgent. Kara didn't recognize the caller's voice, either.

"Yes, she is. May I ask who's calling?"

Kara heard a faint laugh. "Yes, you may." Kara was silent for a moment. The guy was laughing at her!

"Who is calling?" she asked, a little peevishly.  She blinked when he answered. Kara put her hand on the receiver. "Phone for you, Mom," she told her mother.

Her mother snapped out of her daze. "Who is it?" she asked.

"Some guy named Trunks Briefs..."  ** 

Before that day, Kara could have sworn know one could move as fast as her mother could when she ran around the kitchen and tore the phone from Kara's hand. "Hello?" her mother gasped into the phone.

Kara couldn't hear what the reply on the other end was, but whatever it was affected her mother deeply. Pan's knees collapsed, and she clutched the counter with one hand for support. "Yes," she agreed with whatever he had said, "it has been a long time." She took a deep breath in, and moved the receiver away from her mouth. "Kara, go away. Anywhere." She made a shooing motion with her hand.

Kara moved away, reluctantly. She thought as she moped down the hall. Trunks Briefs. It was a very funny sounding name, one you could be sure of remembering once you heard it. That was the strange part. Kara could have sworn she had heard that name before, and not too long ago. She just couldn't remember where... Not from her mother, certainly. She never told Kara anything about her past. Only that she came to L.A. from Japan before Kara was born. Kara didn't even know who her father was. She had asked her mother once, and the reply was, "It doesn't matter. I can raise you on my own, and you don't have any sort of genetic problems where you would need family as donors, so if I were you, I would just forget about it." Of course, Kara hadn't forgotten about it. All of her other friends, with the exception of Mal (short for Mallory), had fathers. Mal's dad died when she was four. That was just one of the many things the two had in common.

By the ways her mother had reacted to the caller's name, Kara knew Trunks was a friend from Japan. So when she got to her room, she had to fight the urge to pick up the phone. She had wanted her own phone line, but her mother had refused. At the moment, she was glad it was on the same line as the rest of the apartment. She stared at it. "To eavesdrop, or not to eavesdrop. That, is the question." She laughed at her own joke. Her curiosity won over. She picked up the phone.

"...was that who picked up the phone?" Trunks was asking.

"My daughter, Kara," Pan replied simply, yet uneasily.

"How old is she, fourteen, fifteen?" His voice had a distinct edge to it, like he almost didn't want his question answered. Like he knew what the answer was going to be. 

Kara almost growled on the phone, but didn't because they would have heard. _I don't sound like I'm fourteen, you nut!   _

"She'll be 17 in July," whispered Pan.

"Ah." There was an uneasy silence. "Are you married?"

"No. You?" Pan asked hastily.

"Naa. Almost, a couple years back, but it fell through."

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. Besides, I don't need a wife. I've got my sister and her kids. They love taking care of me."

Pan chuckled slightly. "K-kids? As in more than one?" 

"Yup. They've got three now. And they're all great, if you wanted to know. But then again, if you wanted to know, you would have called or written, wouldn't you have?" There was a different edge in his voice this time, an angry one.

Pan gulped audibly. She opened her mouth to reply, but she couldn't find the words. So she shut it with a snap. Then opened it again, this time to change the subject. "Are you in town? How did you find me?"

"Yes, I am. On business. And when I got here, I thought I felt your ki, so I looked you up. You're in the phone book you know. And you don't exactly have a very common name."

Pan blushed slightly. "No, I don't."

"And not to mention I saw someone who looked _astonishingly_ like you earlier today."

"That was probably Kara."

"So were back to her again." Trunks sighed. "I have one question to ask about her."

"Shoot," Pan replied quickly, not even thinking of what question he might be about to ask. Foolishly.

Trunks took a deep breath in. "Who's her father?"

Pan blinked. _Dammit, stupid!! You should have known he would ask you that! What are you supposed to tell him? The truth?_ Pan laughed at herself, inwardly. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she responded testily.

"Pan," Trunks began.

"No, I'm not done. What right do you think you have, just bursting in on my life like this? Don't you think there was a reason I just left!"

"Yes, I do, in fact. And I would be very interested in hearing it." Trunks' voice was completely serious. And very, very stubborn.

"How long will you be in L.A.?"

"A few more weeks. Why?" Trunks asked, glad that Pan's sudden outburst was in the past.

"I-I was just thinking that maybe we could get together sometime and talk. It'd be easier than over the phone. And cheaper, too."

"I agree."

"Good," Pan replied. She knew he would agree, she just didn't know why the hell _she _was agreeing. She had wanted to put that part of her life behind her, for good. It looked like that wasn't going to be possible. "How about tomorrow?"

"I can't, I've got meetings all day. Sunday's good though. I'll come over to your place alright? I'm sure I can find it."

"Okay. About ten A.M.?"

"Fine with me. See you then," Trunks replied, about to hang up. 

"Wait. I'm sorry about blowing up at you before. I should have realized you would want to know that. I was yelling just as much at myself as I was at you."

"It's alright. I've taken much worse of beatings from my father." He laughed, dryly.

"I know, but that was uncalled for."

Trunks nodded, absently. "Yes. You've matured a lot these past 17 years."

That comment earned him a chuckle. "You'd be surprised how much you have to grow up in order to raise a teenager." There was another silence, this one just as uneasy as the last.

"Isn't it funny the way whatever we talk about seems to bring her up?" Pan asked, softly.

"Funny 'ha ha' or funny peculiar?" Trunks asked.

"Funny peculiar."

"Yes, it is." There was a pause. "She's beautiful. Just like you."

"No," Pan swallowed, "she has your eyes." 

Before he could respond, Pan quickly hung up the phone and turned away from it, sobbing.

Aren't I just evil? Review, or not only with both Kermit and Miss Piggy be sent out after you (that is, if 'squirrel will let me barrow Piggy for a little bit), you will be left forever wondering what Pan meant by that statement. Of course, the smart peoples among my readers will have it figured out. A box of thin mint cookie crumbs to whoever gets it right! And a lined piece of paper covered with chocolate fingerprints to the runner up!!

Alannapurple

RaWcK oN 


	3. Chapter 3 - In Which the Action Takes Pl...

You see a dimly lit stage, empty except for a mike. An average built teenage girl with curly brown hair runs onstage, looking about her, like she was afraid someone was following her. When she gets to the mike, she sighs with relief. "Thank God! I got here before the rest of me!" There is a confused silence in the audience, which is broken by a second girl jumping down on the first girl from the stage rafters. The first girl, alannapurple, screams bloody murder. The second girl looks just like alannapurple, except she's wearing preppy clothes and a big, obnoxious grin.

A third girl, who looks like the first two, but with a scowl and larger muscles, comes out from offstage at alannapurple's screams. She advances on the second girl (which is Giggle, if you don't know from the first chap) with a blank, somewhat insane look. Giggle runs away before Kermit gets any closer. "Thanks Kermit," alannapurple says. She rummages through the pockets of her oversized black band jacket (a/n I LOVE MY BAND JACKET!!!) until she pulls out a fortune cookie leftover from her last meal. "Here Kermit." Alannapurple holds it out in her palm like she was giving it to a wild animal. Kermit snatches it with a wild, obsessive look in her eyes. She devours the cookie whole. Alannapurple makes a face. "Uh, Kermit, you're not supposed to eat the paper in the middle..." Kermit just looks confused, so alannapurple waves her offstage with a flick of her wrist. She turns to the audience. "Alright, besides the fact that I have suddenly decided I DO have the ability to use the Word program on my computer, I have a special treat for you! Yes, in exchange for me corrupting her with Dragonball Z and rock music, callmesquirrel will now be a permanent part of our set!!" Alannapurple snaps her fingers, and a back curtain rises, showing 'squirrel sitting at the drum set, drumsticks in one hand, and the book she's reading in the other. 

Alannapurple clears her throught loudly, and 'squirrel looks up. She puts the book away, looking guilty. "What was that?" alannapurple asks her. "A book." "Yes, I know that's a book. I work in a friggen' book store! I just want to know why you're reading on the job!"  "Since when was this a job?" 'squirrel grumbles.  "Since now! Alright, enough about her, more about the story..." "What, do you think the story is more important than me?" 'squirrel demands. "Well that makes me angry. You don't want to make me angry!"

"Oh, really? What, are you going to do, 'do what drummers are fabled to do with their drumsticks'?" alannapurple asks, quoting from the reviews. 'squirrel nods. "Do I want to know?" 'squirrel grins. "You'll find out soon enough." "I can't wait.

"Anyways, I don't own DBZ! I also don't own Burger King (which I should have mentioned in the first story, and I don't hate that place like Kara does, I just prefer McDonalds' burgers), or Starbucks. And using my magical Super Authorific Powers, it's suddenly Sunday. Don't worry, it explains itself. Alrighty then, let the show begin!!"

 The curtain starts to drop, but alannapurple yells out "Wait!" The curtain keeps dropping. "Damn gravity," she mutters. "I hereby give this box of the promised thin mint cookie crumbs to S.T.A.R.S. member for correctly interpreting Pan's last statement. (If you missed it check the reviews) The chocolate fingerprint paper goes to kristy, for alluding (hehehe I used a vocab word in my story lol) to the fact that she knew at least part of the story is t/p. I won't give out which part though." Alannapurple laughs wickedly. The curtain has fallen all the way now. She crawls back under it, and gets halfway before turning around and announcing, "Thanks to everyone else who reviewed that either didn't understand the statement or didn't want to guess. I'll try to have more prize winning questions, 'k?" She disappears for good.

~*~*~*~*~*~

 Previously on "Going Back"..........

**"Isn't it funny the way whatever we talk about seems to bring her up?" Pan asked, softly.

 "Funny 'ha ha' or funny peculiar?" Trunks asked.

"Funny peculiar."

 "Yes, it is." There was a pause. "She's beautiful. Just like you."

 "No," Pan swallowed, "she has your eyes." 

Before he could respond, Pan quickly hung up the phone and turned away from it, sobbing**

Kara sat at the booth in her favorite hangout, the Starbucks a block and a half from her apartment/house, stirring her decaf-mocha with extra foam dejectedly. Across from her sat her best friends, Mallory Hale and Claire Scout. 

They were pretty much opposites in every way. Claire was petite and blond, and played the flute in the school band. Mal was by no means tall, but she had more of a dancers build, and thick auburn (mostly brown though) hair. She did a little martial arts, since it _was_ L.A., must she had been dancing since she was around five. Not just ballet, but jazz and a little swing. Claire's dad was the principle at one of the nearby Elementary schools, and her mother ran a day care at their house, while she watched Claire's two younger siblings. Mal was an only child whose father had died and whose mother was a criminal defense attorney. Claire sometimes acted the part of the ditzy blond, and would flirt with almost any boy. Mal usually crushed on guys for weeks at a time, but hadn't done any more than that since her last boyfriend in her Sophomore year. The break up hadn't been very devastating, since it was a long distance (L.A. to San Diego) relationship, but Mal had deemed herself "not emotionally ready for a stable relationship." Kara had laughed, asking when the last time the word "stable" described anything to with Mal. Mal had thrown a pillow at her, then laughed back. Claire had a new boyfriend practically every month, and usually they were guys from band. Mal and Kara had both joked that it was like she was the head cheerleader who dated the entire football team.

Practically the only things Mal and Claire had in common were that they both went to the same school, they lived on the same street (all three of them had, since they were really little) and they were friends with Kara. And both of them were worried about how silent Kara was that day. She had told them Friday night that her mother was having a 'friend' coming over on Sunday, and they wanted some 'privacy'. So they decided to meet at Starbucks for breakfast at 10. It was now almost 11, and the three of them had hardly spoken together. Kara was still on her first cup of coffee!

"Kara, what's wrong?" Mal demanded.

"Ya, you haven't acted this depressed since Todd dumped you in November," Claire added. Kara just shrugged.

This worried both of her friends. Usually, Kara's response would have been a quick, slightly annoyed, "He didn't dump me; we broke up. It was mutual."

Kara noticed her response had made them even more worried. "I'm just tired, I guess. I haven't gotten a lot of sleep this past week." It was partially the truth. The other part was that she was deep in thought about what she had heard on Friday, and the conversation she'd had with her mom afterwards. It was what she'd thought about on Saturday also. She and her mom had had a _long _talk, mostly about Trunks. Her father. 

It was a little strange, come Sunday morning, when she actually saw him when he came. She had been leaving to meet her friends when he drove up. It was difficult for her to try to match a physical being up with the term "father," mainly because it had been abstract for so long. Even more strange and difficult for her was to find the "young" man she had seen on Friday. So she had just told her friends he was just an old friend of her mothers. Which he was, so it was the truth. She was just lying by omission. 

"If you're so tired, why did you get a decaf coffee instead of getting a caffeine buzz?" Mal asked, a little irritated. It had sounded to her like Kara was feeling sorry for herself about something, and it was Mal's job to snap her out of it.

Kara blinked. "My mind's just all over the place today, isn't it?" She downed the rest of her coffee, which was cold, but still good. "I guess I'll go remedy that." She stood up and got back into line. It was a little long, but she didn't mind. Claire had given Kara plenty of flirting lessons, and the guy behind her wasn't so bad looking. He was about 20 or 21, and had spiked up black hair. He _definitely _looked Japanese. As much as she did, at least. He was staring at her a little bit like the guy at Burger King had. At least now, she knew why. She almost shuddered when she realized she'd practically been flirting with her own father! And now this guy looking at her gave her an odd sense of _deja vu_. She smiled at him, the same one she used on Trunks, and to her relief, the boy smiled back. But, he didn't say anything. Kara really was tired, and she didn't feel like starting up a conversation. He also looked like he was in deep thought.

Kara ordered the same thing she had before, except with caffeine this time, and went back to her seat. After the quick smile, she had nearly forgotten the Japanese boy. Almost, but not quite. His smile had been flirty, yes, but also cautious, and with the air of innocence, like a young schoolboy. It had been so very cute.

She began drinking her coffee, feeling better the instant the caffeine entered her bloodstream. Claire laughed at how focused Kara was on her coffee. Claire didn't have one main focus. Instead she had several, top on her list was boys. Mal had a focus, and she was so focused on it that it became an obsession, and the mere mention on it lightened her face like nothing else could do. Kara only focused on what she was doing _right then and there._ Her mother had taught her, if unknowingly, that the past was better left along, and she had figured out that the future is very uncertain. Kara liked having a firm grasp on the now, which was mainly why her friends were more than slightly worried by her zoning out on them.

Since she was so absorbed by the liquid energy that is regular coffee, she didn't notice the Japanese boy come back up to her. "Excuse me," he asked her politely. She nearly jumped, splashing coffee on her tank top. It barely missed her skin, and she was lucky brown wasn't going to stain black. When she saw why she'd been startled, she relaxed.

"oh, hi. Can I help you?" she asked him.

"Do you live around here?" She nodded.

"Good. I'm not. I was wondering if you could show me how to get..."

"How to get to Sesame Street!" Claire sang, interrupting him, her ditzy blondness taking a hold of her for a few seconds. She laughed.

The boy smiled at her, a genuine smile. "No, actually, I know how to get there. Unfortunately." At the girls' raised eyebrows, he added, "Younger siblings." They nodded in acknowledgment. "I meant to ask to find Havishburg Court." 

Kara rolled her eyes and gave him a "duh!" look. "You're _on_ Havishburg Court," she told him slowly as if he was slightly retarded. Which he could have been if he didn't know that.

He chuckled slightly, and scratched the back of his head. "Oh yeah, huh." He put his arm down, and looked around, as if trying to find something.

Kara was slowly losing her patience with this guy. "Is there something else?" she asked when he didn't leave.

"I guess. Do any of you live on this street?" 

All three girls nodded. "In the apartments down the street," Mal added.

The boy brightened. "Really? Do any of you know Kara Son?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Okay, when I started this chapter, it was going to be a LOT longer, but then I realized, stopping it here would follow perfect with my habit of cliffhangers. And its long enough, too. And I also have to go to bed. It also means another prize winning question!! A box of Tagalong cookie crumbs to the first person to guess who the boy is OR why he's looking for Kara! O shoot. I guess this means I'll have to wait to get review answers before I post the next chapters with the winners.... Or you could just review quickly... The more reviews, the more likely I'll find time to write within a week from now... (hint hint). I have to go to sleep now, band concert in the morning.

RaWcK oN      


	4. Chapter 4 - In Which our Heroine discove...

You see a dimly lit stage, with alannapurple standing in front of the mike. "Hey again, everyone. I know, I know, I meant to have this come up earlier, but I had an attack of inspiration for two other fics and I HAD to write those. And no one reviewed the last chapter!! Well one person did. 'squirrel doesn't count, 'cause I  was after her for over a week to get her to read and review it."

"What do you mean I don't count?" callmesquirrel calls from her drum set in the back of the stage. Alannapurple frown, and snaps her fingers. A gag appears around 'squirrel's mouth. As hard as she tries to remove it, the gag won't come off of 'squirrels mouth. "Well it seems I've found a way to deal with our little 'pest control' problem... Anyway, kristy won the quiz question, because she was the only one who reviewed with an answer. And the answer to your guesses are, in order, no, yes, and sort of. This chapter might explain a little bit, but being as I haven't wrote it yet, I'm not sure How long this chapter will be... I'll try to make it really long..... I hope..." alannapurple stretches. "Okay, I don't own DBZ, kristy, you can pick up your cookie crumbs after this chap. Let the show begin!" The curtain falls.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Previously on 'Going Back'

**He chuckled slightly, and scratched the back of his head. "Oh yeah, huh." He put his arm down, and looked around, as if trying to find something.

Kara was slowly losing her patience with this guy. "Is there something else?" she asked when he didn't leave.

"I guess. Do any of you live on this street?" 

All three girls nodded. "In the apartments down the street," Mal added.

The boy brightened. "Really? Do any of you know Kara Son?"**

Kara paled slightly. "Why?" she croaked.

"I'm just supposed to find her." He narrowed his eyes. "Say, are you Kara?"

She swallowed, but her throat was tight and it was hard. So she just nodded. He brightened greatly. "My names Brett Son, your mom's my cousin on my dad's side. I'm here with my uncle on business, and since he's currently at your house, he told me to come here and find you. He said you could keep me out of trouble." Kara raised her eyebrows. "And I talk to much."

"Really," Mal said sarcastically. "I didn't notice."

Brett laughed, and grinned. "I make a very bad business man, but my choice was either that, or to go into fighting like my dad and I'm not a very good fighter."

Kara laughed politely. Her head was spinning slightly from this, first from what her mom told her on Friday, to seeing her dad for the first time _ever_, and now a cousin from Japan. It was a little overwhelming, but she didn't want it to show.

"So you're from Japan, right?" Mal asked, a little anxiously.

Brett nodded, hesitantly, confused by her sudden change in attitude towards him.

Kara saw the hesitance and confusion, and suddenly remembered her manners. "Oh! Brett, this is Claire, and Mal," she told him, pointing them out respectively.

"Hello. Mal. What an interesting nickname. What does it stand for, Malformed?" Brett said, teasingly.

Mal ground her teeth. "Mallory," she practically barked.

Brett saw her tense. "Sorry. And yes, I'm from Japan. The company I work for is based there."

Kara and Claire both exchanged a glance at that, and braced themselves for Mal's reaction. Her eyes got wide, actually, she started glowing, and she looked, well, excited. "What company would that be?" she asked, leaning forward to him.

He sat down at the table, and looked down at it. "I um, don't think you would have heard of it..." he mumbled.

"Oh, I doubt that," Kara cut in. "Mal is practically obsessed. If it's a company large enough to come to America for a convention, that's what you're here for right, the Industrial Revolution Convention thingy, right?" Brett nodded. "Well if it's big enough for that, then Mal knows about it. And she knows every thing about it." Brett looked a little doubtful. "Ask her."

Mal looked at him anxiously. "Fine," he gave in. "Capsule Corps."

"Really? Even I've heard of _that_," Claire replied. Kara nodded. It was a big, no huge, company, even in the Stated.

Brett shrugged, then turned to Mal. "So, what do you know about it?"

Mal looked as though she might start hyperventilating any moment from sheer excitement. "Well, it's the richest and largest company in Japan, and probably the whole world, and it makes things called 'capsules' which can contain almost anything, from clothes to a house. They're somewhat illegal in America, because they could be used to transport illegal drugs." Brett nodded, urging her to continue. "And the president, is _so_ cute. Oh!" Mal turned around, and pulled her purse off the back of her chair and started rummaging through it. "I found an old picture of him from a magazine, but I don't think he looks this good anymore."

"You keep a photo of him in you purse?" Brett asked, bewildered. Mal nodded absently.

"Wow. I didn't even know that." Kara's eyes were a little wide.

"Well you don't know everything, do you?" Mal told her in a teasing voice. "Here it is!" She plopped the picture on the table. "Trunks Briefs. Was, for about 8 years running, the world's most eligible Bachelor. I don't know why he's not anymore, unless he got married."

Kara stopped listening after she said him name, because she had banged her head on the table, loudly. So that was where she'd heard his name from before. From Mal. And that Brett was a closer cousin than through his father, if her dad was his uncle. Okay, so her father was the owner of an extremely rich company. So what? She hit her head again. This time Mal noticed.

"Kara, are you okay?"

Kara laughed, slightly insanely, and shook her head "no". "I'm gonna be fine, though. But I doubt you'll be able to snatch this one up, Mal. That's the guy who's over at my house right now."

Mal's eyes went wider than should be humanly possible. She turned to Brett. "You're related to Trunks Briefs?" she squawked. (a/n squawked, not squeaked. There is a difference.) 

Brett nodded, slightly embarrassed. "He's my mom's older brother. Actually, he and my dad are bested friends, and..." He looked and Kara as though he wanted to say more, but then thought better of it. Kara was pretty sure of what he was going to add.

Mal didn't catch it. "And what?"

"And nothing," Kara said firmly, with a touch of warning towards Brett. They all caught that.

Claire stood up, and announced that she was heading to the bathroom to "freshen up" and she asked Mal to come with her. Mal almost declined, but both Claire and Kara glared at her until she agreed to go. So then, Kara and Brett were alone in the mostly empty coffee shop.

"This may sound a bit odd, but were you listening on another phone on Friday when Uncle Trunks called your mom?" Brett asked.

Kara agreed with that it was an odd question, and she was a bit taken back at first. Then she nodded. "Me too," Brett said after her nod.

"And?" Kara asked.

"I know."

Kara almost asked, "Know what?", but then she remembered the end of the conversation and the chat with her mom. She didn't actually believe all of what her mother told her, but she knew the main fact was true. "I know too."

"Good. 'Cause if you didn't, I might have told you, and Uncle Trunks would have gotten mad at me. He doesn't always act like it, but he does work out a lot, and he can e dangerous when he gets mad." He shuddered slightly.

Kara thought a minute. "What did you mean by you would have gone into fighting? I mean, my mom never told me anything about when she was in Japan, so it's probably something I should know, but I don't. So please fill me in, at least a little bit."

"Well, my dad owns a gym, and he used to compete in the World Martial Arts Tournaments. I think he came really close to winning it a couple of times, but..." his voice trailed off.

"But what? Ya know, if you keep doing that, I'm gonna get really annoyed, really fast."

 "Sorry. My dad just doesn't like to talk about that. He says it brings back unwanted anger. I don't think he's ever told me."

"So? Someone else has, I bet."

"It's not important." Brett was nervous, but Kara couldn't think of a single reason why he would be. She decided it must be a family thing, and that if her mother hadn't gone all crazy about leaving her whole old life behind, she would know why.

"Fine." Kara decided to let the subject drop. "Why did Trunks tell you to come find me? And how am I supposed to keep you out of trouble? You're a big boy, keep yourself out of trouble!"

Brett laughed. "I have a knack for mischief. I've been told I was a lot like my father when he was a child." He coughed. "Except for a few minor differances."

"Like?"

  
"Well, I don't fight at all. And I'm not completely stupid. No, wait, that didn't come out right. I did go to school and all that. My dad didn't, or at least not a lot. His mom was more lenient to him about school then he was to his brother. That would be my other uncle, and your grandfather."

"Oh." This was all knew to her, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know about all her long lost relatives and their families and all that. Maybe her mom was right, that things like that should stay in the past. Brett seemed nice enough. But you can't judge a book by its cover, right?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I know I said I'd try to make this chapter longer, but I can't, I really can't. It's late, I have school tomorrow, and I'm not precisely sure yet how I want the next chapter to go. I'm so so so so _so_ sorry.__


	5. Chapter 5 - In Which Some Parents Need a...

You see a dimly lit stage, with a girl standing in front of a microphone. "I have made a decision about the whole 'squirrel issue," alannapurple announces. In the background you see Callmesquirrel at her drum set, with her gag still on. Alannapurple snaps her fingers. The gag comes off, but a pair of chains appear around 'squirrel's wrists connecting them with her drumsticks. "Try hitting me with those things now!" alannapurple shouts in victory. 'squirrel groans, and you can see the gears working in her head, trying to come up with a way to get back at alannapurple for this torture.

Alannapurple sees this too, and looks back at the audience. "Well, we'll just let her deal with that for a while. Anyways, I'm going to try really _really _hard to make this a long chapter." She sighs. "I'm so jealous of all those authors who write the really _long_ chapters every chapter for like, the whole story. I could never do that." She sighs wistfully, but is interrupted by a flying object that strikes her in the head. She rubs her head, then bends over and picks it up. "A marimba mallet?" alannapurple asks herself. (a/n for those who don't know, AKA, the non-bandos, a marimba is like a xylophone, but with wooden keys. And I'm most likely going to get a mouthful from the _real_ 'squirrel for that lousy definition. The marimba is an instrument in the pit percussion section of marching band and concert band. But not orchestra.) She turns and angry glare at 'squirrel.

Callmesquirrel doesn't even try to look innocent. "You-know-who would kill me if I didn't know where my mallets were at all times. They were right here." She pulls the other mallet out of her back jeans pocket, and laughs. 

Alannapurple rolls her eyes. "If you keep this up, I'm going to go back to Six Flags and buy you that key chain for your birthday." 'squirrel narrows her eyes. "You wouldn't."   
"Of course I would." 'squirrel thinks a moment, then sticks her tongue out, gets up and runs off the set. "Kermit!" alannapurple calls, "Go fetch 'squirrel back here! Now!" Kermit appears, nods to her, then disappears off to where 'squirrel left. Alannapurple sighs, then turns back to the audience. "Sorry about that folks. Okay, I don't own DBZ. I have nothing else to say at the moment, except...... let the show begin!" The curtain falls.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Trunks parked his car on the curb right outside of Pan's house. He briefly (a/n yes, the pun _was_ intended on that one) checked himself out in the rear-view mirror before getting our and walking up the driveway. (a/n oh come on, he's a guy, and a hot one, so why shouldn't he be checking himself out? Get real, people!) As he entered the house, Kara rushed passed him, pausing just enough to glare at him slightly. _What the hell was _that_ about?_ He asked himself. He came up with no answer.

He resolved to ask Pan, later (a/n I just discovered 'later' and 'alter' are made up of the same letters. This has no importance whatsoever to this story. Please ignore Me.), after they had talked a while. She was waiting for him inside the empty kitchen. It was empty because she had moved the painting she was working on into her bedroom late Friday evening.

Pan was sitting at the kitchen counter, trying to find the meaning of life in her already cold cup of coffee. (a/n I tried to that once, because most coffee is really gross cold. I guess that means the meaning of life is that the only things to get better with time are fine wines and exotic cheeses. Lol.) It wasn't working very well. She sensed Trunks enter the kitchen. She didn't look up, just said, "Hello."

"Interesting cup of coffee?" Trunks asked, laughing lightly. Pan never was a morning person.

"Not really. I asked it it's life story, and all it would talk about is how it was unpleasantly plucked from it's life on a nice, quiet branch of a coffee bean tree on some tropical island to be ground, boiled, and drank for my amusement. So I decided to let it get cold as punishment for being so annoying," was Pan's monotone reply. Trunks raised his eyebrows. "But enough about me," she said, finally looking up. "How have you been?"

"Fine. Busy."

"You always were," Pan said, slightly disgusted. Trunks couldn't tell whether the disgust was at his lack of reply, that he was fine, or that he was busy. He decided not to ponder on it for too long. Pan sighed. "You still president of that damn company?"

Trunks nodded. "Willingly?" Pan asked, extremely curious. He nodded again. "I don't even sneak out of the office anymore," he added with a laugh. Pan was taken back. "Why the hell not?"

Trunks shrugged. "I don't mind it anymore. And Bra's making me train Brett to take over the company when I finally give in and retire." He paused and looked at Pan again. "You remember Brett, don't you?"

Pan nodded, thinking. "Yeah, barely. Wow, he'd be.... he'd be what, 21 now?"

Trunks nodded. "He's here with me, now. Probably thinking of another way to get himself into trouble without me knowing, right this second," he said thoughtfully, then laughed. "He's just like his father was at his age. Like his father _still _is in some respects." They both laughed. Pan hardly knew Goten when he was in his early twenties, because she was pretty little, but she knew him as he got older, and he hadn't changed much in that time.

"He never has changed, had he?" She asked. Trunks shook his head. "Not a bit." They laughed.

It felt comfortable to talk about the past, that far back, and laugh about it, until it began to remind her of the slightly more recent past. She stopped laughing. So did Trunks. "Pan," he said softly, "why did you leave?"

Pan sat there, and looked back at her depressed and angry (a/n I've never drank depressed coffee, but I think I've had angry coffee once before. Yee-ouch!! Lol.) cup of coffee for a little encouragement. It didn't come. She decided to talk anyway. "I guess I was just really.... angry... Mostly at myself, and at you, of course, but a little at the whole fucking world." The last statement was said in a very bitter tone of voice. "I didn't originally mean to disappear forever. But then I found out I was pregnant, and I just _couldn't_ go back. Or even call, or write. I mean, how could I explain how _that _happened without explaining about..... that...." Her voice trailed off, and she turned her chair away from the counter to look at Trunks. He was leaning against the wall, staring into nothing. Pan looked down at her hands, hoping that he would say _something_ soon.

It took awhile, no more than a few minutes really, but to Pan it seemed forever, for Trunks to digest those few words. He took a deep breath in, then let it out in a sigh. "I guess I can understand _most_ of that. I mean, yeah, there are a lot of people back home who wouldn't easily take to _that_.... But even, I mean, what about now? People back at home still miss you. Bra and your mother I know for a fact still talk about you coming home."

"What about my father?" Pan asked in a slightly dead voice. The topic of her father, which she hadn't really thought about much, up until recently, often made her feel just that. Dead. Small. Ignorant. Unimportant.

Trunks sighed, and shook his lavender-covered head (a/n ::sighs:: What I would give to run my fingers through that hair.....). "I think..." He cleared his throat and tried again. "I think he gave you up for dead after the first year." His voice was soft, but Pan heard him loud and clear.

"I thought as much," she told him in a small voice. "But it doesn't really matter." Trunks saw her shaking slightly, and knew she was lying. But he didn't say anything. In wasn't important to him. Gohan wasn't _his_ problem, at least, not at the moment.

There was silence. Both old friends were trying to think of some way to change the subject to anything. Pan found one first. "You said Bra and Goten have _three _kids now? What's _that_ like?"

"Annoying for the baby-sitter, that's what it is," Trunks replied with a laugh. "The twins are six now. After Brett, they decided to wait awhile before adding to their collection." Pan laughed at the absurd thought.

"Twins, though. What're their names?" She tried to sound casual, but she was really dying of curiosity about her old best friend.

"Well, they're a boy and a girl, and dad made them name the boy after him, so now there are two snobby Vegetas in our mixed clan."

Pan laughed again. It was almost just like old times now. "Wow. I can now say that I'm truthfully related to Vegeta." She shuddered. "Maybe that's not a good thing," she added as an afterthought. "What about the girl? What's her name?"

"Pan. Bra decided to name her after you."

The information hit Pan like a ton of bricks. She was speechless for a few seconds. "Why?" she finally managed to croak out.

"Well, she took after her fathers side of the family, which translates to even your father admits she looks like you did at her age. That was the closest he's come recently to mentioning you." Trunks tilted his head to the side and thought for a moment, then chuckled slightly. "You know, a small part of me thinks Bra did it to try and get him to say your name again."

Pan shrugged. She didn't know why Bra ever did what she did when they were kids, so why should she know now? "Your guess is as good as mine. Actually, it's probably better." Trunks nodded again.

The silence came back, but it was a bit more comfortable this time. Not exactly a nice silence; it was still extremely uneasy. (a/n I've been listening to the same list of songs all day on winamp, and it includes Matchbox 20's entire album _Yourself or Someone Like You_, and there's this line in one of the songs that goes "If you've never heard that silence, it's a God-awful sound." I thought that would fit nicely at this point, and I also just heard that song. Okay, I've wasted enough time at this point. Back to the story!) It also lasted longer, as both parties were running out of "safe" subjects to talk about. Then, Trunks thought of something.

"Where – Did Kara tell you where she was going to?" Trunks asked Pan, suddenly.

Pan shook her head. "But it was probably the Starbucks down the street. She always meets her friends there." She paused. "Why?"

Trunks responded by shaking his head. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and dialed the some-what familiar hotel room number. Brett answered it with his usual cheerfulness, and Trunks told him, in very few words, to go find Kara and to keep out of trouble. The damn boy had a knack not just for trouble, but for eavesdropping on all, and that would be _all_, of his phone conversations and work and on business trips. Brett also had most of his brains from his mother, so Trunks had to tell him that he and Pan were "briefly (a/n okay that pun was unintentional) involved romantically before she left Japan." That wasn't the whole truth, because, of course, nothing is ever as simple as that, but Brett had taken it, just as he had taken the idea to meet Kara. For some reason, Brett was more of a people person than Trunks' entire immediate family, including his sister. Trunks hung up quickly so he could turn his attention back to Pan.

"What was that about?"

"It was just an idea I had. I'm sure if Kara's anything like you, she would be able to keep Brett in line." He paused. "What's she like, anyway?"

Pan blinked. "Aggravating. I never thought parenting would be so hard!" 

"Oh, I could have told you _that_." At Pan's quizzical look, he added, "I did baby-sit for you a lot when you were little. You were a monster!"

"Then I guess she's just how I was as a teenager. Except, she's so much more mature."

"Not the kind of girl who would have to prove she's an adult, huh?" The words were out of Trunks' mouth before he thought about the kind of reaction it would have on Pan. _Whoops. Open foot, insert mouth._

~*~*~*~

_Back at Starbucks........_

"You know, I'd really like to see your house," Brett was telling Kara.

"Why?"

"Just 'cause." Like that was an answer. Kara frowned.

"I don't think that's a good idea. My mom said she wanted to be alone when she was talking to D-Trunks." Kara shook her head. She almost called him Dad! And she'd only known of his existence for a few days! But if Brett heard, he tactfully didn't say anything.

At that moment, Claire and Mal returned from their little bathroom 'escapade'. Claire clearly looked better, but Mal looked, well, angry. Most likely from being dragged away from what looked like the best ticket to getting a job at Capsule Corps sometime in the near future. Kara looked at the two of them. "You guys wanna ditch this joint and head over to my place?"

Mal looked pleased by the idea, but Claire wasn't so sure. "I thought you said your mom wanted some privacy?" she asked.

Kara shrugged. "That's why I've got my own bedroom." Mal snickered slightly. Kara gave her a look, and she stopped.

"Well, you know, I think I've got some homework I need to do for tomorrow that I've been putting off for a while. Why don't you guys go have fun, and I'll do that, okay?" Kara was curious as to why Claire was asking her permission to do homework, but she dismissed it with a wave.

"Fine with me. Later." And so Claire left the three others sitting at the table in the still slightly crowded building.

Kara turned her attention back to her mocha, which she hadn't touched since Brett came over to talk. It was surprisingly still warm, and she downed it quickly, burning her tongue and the roof of her mouth in the process. It didn't effect her much. (a/n you know, the whole 'it's hard to hurt a Saiyan thingy'.) She got up, threw the empty paper cup in the trash, and said to her friend and cousin, "Let's go." They left.

~*~*~*~*~*~

_Back the American Son household....._

Pan was growling at Trunks' hastily made comment, and he could feel her ki rising quickly. "Wait, Pan. I'm sorry. That was way out of line of me."

"You bet it was," Pan growled back, but her ki stopped rising so quickly, then stopped rising all together. It stayed where it was, not going up or down.

"Look, let's pretend I never opened my big mouth, alright?" Pan sighed, and relaxed. "Fine. Is there anything about Kara you're still interested about?"

"Yes, actually." Trunks decided now would be a good time to ask about that weird glare she had given him on his way in. "What exactly did you tell Kara about me?"

Pan blinked. "Well, I wasn't going to tell her anything more than that you were a friend, but she has this very bad habit, which I know _must_ have come from you, because, frankly (a/n I know this must be very annoying to keep interrupting her rants, but where did that term 'frankly' come from anyway? And how does Frank feel about it?) _I_ never had it. It's called 'eavesdropping'." Trunks swallowed. Pan was still angry about his previous comment. 

"I take it she overheard the conversation on Friday."

"Well, you're not as stupid as you look." Pan was glaring at him now. Trunks glared back. "Yes, she was. I now regret that I ever said that last comment. I must have been possessed by some moronic demon, bent on destroying my sanity when  I said it. Anyway, being the smart girl she is, she asked me about it. So I told her everything."

Pan cut short there, and Trunks looked up shortly. "Oh, did you? Then why was she giving me the evil eye when I passed her on my way out?!" he demanded.

Pan sighed, and all of her anger came out with her breath. "Fine, so I left out a few minor details...."

"Like what? I don't think there are many things in that story that could be labeled as a 'minor detail' except for maybe things like the clothes we were wearing!" he exclaimed. "And none of those would give her cause to do that!"

"Fine! I left out a few major details," Pan admitted, her anger slowly creeping back up.

"Like what?" Trunks asked, suspiciously.

"Like... like that fact that most of it was my fault..." Pan answered in a very, very soft voice, hoping he wouldn't hear her. But, Trunks had his super Saiyan (a/n not Super Saiyan as in SSJ, but the fact that it is both super as in great, marvelous, and Saiyan) hearing, and heard every word. He erupted.

"What?! Why the hell would you do something like _that_?!" he demanded.

"I don't know!" Pan shouted back. It was the truth, for the most part. She didn't know why, but she didn't want her daughter to know the truth. It was something she didn't want anyone to know, but unfortunately, someone did. That someone was the last person she would ever have told a secret like this to, but she had no choice now in who knew. It was so frustrating! "I guess I'm embarrassed," she embellished. 

"So you would rather she thought I was some sort of, of.... Argh!" Trunks was quickly getting more pissed off then Pan was, and that's saying something. His ki and anger were skyrocketing to extreme heights, but Pan recklessly went on, ignoring it.

"Yes, I would!" she told him, rather coldly. "I guess I wanted her to hate you, didn't I?" She stood up, and walked over to Trunks. The stood facing each other, eyes shooting daggers, in the hall in front of the front door. Trunks was the closest to the door, and his back was to it. "Yes, I did!" Pan answered herself. "I wanted her to hate you, because if I hated you it wouldn't be enough!" It was the final blow. Trunks snapped, and shouted with anger. The air around him turned yellow, as did his hair as he reached SSJ (a/n I just don't like writing the whole thing out, alright!). He automatically began forming a ki blast in one hand, and his cold green eyes were aimed directly at Pan....(a/n I thought about leaving it here, but I really like the scene that comes after this, so this will be just a little bit longer.... more fun for you, right?)

~*~*~*~*~

All three of them, Kara, Brett and Mal, could hear the screaming going on inside, but neither Kara nor Brett could make out what they were saying. The three looked at each other, and ran up the driveway.

When Kara through the door open, she found a strange, _glowing_ blond with hair pointing straight up positioned angrily in front of her mother. "What the hell?!" she demanded. The words were out of her mouth before she thought.

~*~*~*~*~

Trunks was about to release the blast when he heard the door burst open, and the frantic demand; "What the hell?!" He spun around, seeing the shocked look on Pan's face. The blast was released as he spun, aimed directly at the three bewildered teens. (a/n so Brett's not exactly a teen any more. 21 is close enough. It's young enough for him to still act like a teen. I should know, that's how old my brother is.....)

~*~*~*~*~

Even though neither Kara nor Brett had had any special training, they both had quick instincts, via their Saiyan heritage. (a/n well duh!) Kara flattened herself against one side of the doorframe, while Brett pushed himself and Mal against the other, knocking the wind out of Mal. The blast went right passed them, and out the door. It hit the car of one of the neighbors, causing it to explode.

Seeing both the explosion and the bewildered kids caused Trunks to change quickly back to normal form. He dropped his arm.

Mal looked from the now-normal Trunks to the fiery remains of the car and back again. She collapsed against Brett arm, which was still holding her up against the wall, in a half-faint. Kara just stared, her throat suddenly dry. "What... the... fuck...?" she finally managed to croak.

~*~*~*~*~

How'd y'all like that? I'm pretty sure it was at least twice the length of the rest of my chaps! The damn thing also took me about 2 ½ hours to write, so you might have to wait a while before the next one. I'm a little unsure about how I want it to go from here........... And about all those little a/n's sprinkled in...... I hope you read them, cause  I thought most of them were funny!!!

I'm sure you were all upset that I didn't have a quiz question at the end of the last chapter. So, now I have a knew one!! Lol. This one is more of an imagination question than insight......

What, exactly, is Trunks and Pan's story? 

The reviewers who come the closest will get a box of Mint Millano (yum!!! ::drools::) cookie crumbs each! Yes, this will have more than one winner.

The reviewer who has the most interesting/original/farthest from the truth story will get one whole plain Millano cookie.

Yes, this is all a scam to get you to leave me more reviews. If you think I should use something more original, leave it in a review.

As always, flamers are excepted, and now appreciated!! Yes, I am now on a quest to get someone to flame me. Like I said in the summary for my latest fic, a non-fanfiction story called _A Guide to Atherhozy,_ I have never, ever been flamed! I want to fix that! Either I've been a really good writer, people who like to flame don't like to read my story, (which, I don't doubt), or ::gasp:: Flamers have become an extinct breed, which I seriously doubt. So, if you really don't like my plot, my style, my intro (but how could someone not like that?) or my constant a/n's, please tell me. Thank you. My rant is now complete. Now go take on the day. (damn, I really sounded like Dr. Laura. ::shudders:: Bad feeling, very bad feeling..... lol)

RaWcK oN


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